The sign warns anglers of the dangers of overhead powerlines by the River Garry which has no fish because all the water has been abstracted to make electricity!
The River Garry was once a significant producer of spring salmon within the Tay system.
The River Garry is now perhaps the most abstracted river in Scotland. All of the flow is taken at several places for hydro power by Scottish and Southern Energy plc.
There is hardly any flow in the river for 13 miles and salmon have been extinct since the hydro works were completed in the 1950s.
From an historical perspective it is doubtful whether the complete abstraction of the Garry was at all important in terms of national energy supply.
The scheme was conceived during the Second World War when priorities were clearly very different.
Some adverse impacts of hydro generation on river ecology were not perceived when the scheme was permitted. Indeed, some actions which were thought by some to be beneficial have actually had the opposite effect. The overall adverse ecological impact of hydro on the Tay catchment may have been worse than originially believed.
Several years ago Scottish and Southern Energy plc made representations to the then Scottish Executive requesting that no cuts in their electricity generation should be made in order to satisfy WFD requirements. SSE linked this issue to the then Scottish Executive's renewable energy policy and sought support that way.
In 2006 Scottish and Southern Energy proposed to restore a low flow in the Garry by exchanging water from the neighbouring catchment of the River Spey. A modest amount of water can be traded with no loss of generation.
In our view the proposed flow was insufficient to optimise juvenile salmon production in the Garry and the lack of higher flows in the autumn might have prevented adult salmon ascending far up to spawn.
We proposed that the proposed base flow should be increased by also restoring flow to two significant tributaries and providing freshets in the autumn.
Significant ecological, social and economic benefits would arise from a restored River Garry.
Based on the information we had available in 2006 / 07 such an improvement could be made for as little as the equivalent of 3.5 to 4 windturbines' worth of electricity. This is not a significant issue in national energy terms bearing in mind the Garry is the worst example of this type of damage in the country.
The European Commission has set three tests as to whether hydropower should be reduced for WFD objectives. Generation can be reduced if there are alternative forms of generation which are not prohibitively expensive and do not cause greater environmental harm. We consider that for 3.5 windturbines worth of electricity the three conditions are easily met and therefore the generation of electricity must be reduced for the benefit of the environment.
Following our high profile campaign in 2007 SEPA stated that it was their intention too conduct their own review of SSE's abstraction on the River Garry, as they are now legally empowered to do. However, this process appeared to stall and we were told that rather than SEPA leading the review SSE would instead work up a formal application to have their licence altered. Thus the initiative would continue to lie with SSE rather than with SEPA.
SSE have been working up formal applications to retore water to the River Garry and another river in Ross-shire and one in Invernesshire. We were informed at SSE's Annual General Meeting in July 2009 that the application would be made within 6 months. As of late April 2010 it is still awaited, but understood to be close.
There is reason to believe that what is proposed in the formal application may be better than what was proposed originally. For example it appears that less water might be taken from the River Tromie, but full details will not be known until the application is made.
Once the application is made there will be a period of public consultation.
Tay District Salmon Fisheries Board, Site
6, Cromwellpark, Almondbank, Perth, Perthshire, PH13LW.
Telephone (01738) 583733 .
(Mobile) 07974 360 787 .
Fax (01738) 583753 (Please call beforehand as the Fax is usually turned
off to avoid spam)
